Over the summer before sixth year, I found myself thinking often and a lot about Scorpius Malfoy. I had no idea why, we had hated each other since we first met nearly five years ago.

On my first day of Hogwarts I hurried into Platform 9 ¾ a bit later than the rest of my family. I was so nervous about starting Hogwarts and I wanted to make sure I had absolutely everything that I needed. As I walked through the brick wall, I accidentally bumped into a blonde-haired boy and fell. He helped me up; I stammered a sorry and walked away, tripping over my new robes along the way. I cursed myself for being so clumsy and making such a bad impression with my new classmate. This was my first encounter with Scorpius Malfoy.

After I found Mum, Dad, and Hugo we went to look for Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, Al, and James. We found them and said our hellos, James being annoying as usual and embarrassing Teddy and Victoire. When the adults had started talking about driving or something of the like my mind wandered and my eyes wandered around the train station, looking for a friendly face. I saw the blonde-haired boy with his father and mother, standing to a side. Unlike the rest of the families, they weren’t socializing with anyone else. It was almost as if they were being shunned.

Dad noticed me staring at them and said, “So that's little Scorpius. Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

“Mum, who is that boy?” I asked, deciding my dad’s answer would be biased.

"Ron, for heaven's sake,” said Mum, sighing, “don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!" She then turned to me and said: “Scorpius Malfoy. His father and your father…they don’t get along.”

“Oh,” I said. That explained Dad’s reaction. Dad didn’t get along with a lot of people. Most of them were either ex-Death Eaters or Death Eaters children, but he also hated Viktor Krum for no apparent reason.

After hugging Mum, Dad, and Hugo goodbye James, Al, and I boarded the train.

“See you around guys!” James said, laughing, “I’m hanging out with my friends! Have a good year!”

He ran off and Al and I walked through the train, searching for an empty compartment. We finally came to the end of the train, and found a compartment empty except for one person—Scorpius Malfoy.

“So?” Al said, and walked in. I had no choice but to follow him inside.

“Hi,” Al said cautiously, “I’m Al and this is my cousin Rose.”

“Hello,” Scorpius said, just as cautious, “I’m Scorpius.”

“Can we sit here?” asked Al.

“Sure,” Scorpius said indifferently.

Al and I put our trunks up and we sat in silence for a while until Scorpius said: “Is that a cat?”

I looked in the direction he was staring and I said: “Yes, that’s my cat. Smoke.”

He scoffed.

“What?” I said, sensing he was going to make fun of him”

“Well,” he said proudly, “it’s just that I have an owl.”

“So?” I asked, still not getting what he was hinting at.

“Cats are stupid,” he said shrugging, “and they’re pretty much useless most of the time.”

“That’s not true!” I exclaimed, “Cats are loyal and they can be a friend. Owls are just for post and such.”

“Yeah,” Scorpius said, sniggering, “you would need a cat. Because you can’t find any friends of your own.”

I scowled angrily and turned away from him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Al high five Scorpius. I rolled my eyes and pulled out A History of Magic. Scorpius and Al struck up a conversation about who-knows-what and the hours flew by. Soon we were at Hogwarts.

As we were waiting to be sorted I paced around nervously. I so desperately wanted to be in Gryffindor, with the rest of my family. I knew Al didn’t really give a shit because Uncle Harry didn’t care either, but my Dad? He was a whole other story.

The sorting began and there were so many students. I didn’t recognize most of them, and the first name I recognized was “Malfoy, Scorpius.” He was obviously sorted into Slytherin. Soon enough came “Potter, Albus.” After the hat was on his head for a while, it shouted “SLYTHERIN!” I gasped, but Albus just shrugged and ran off to the Slytherin table with Scorpius.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Sorting Hat finally called “Weasley, Rose.” I walked to the stool with shaking legs. The Sorting Hat was put on my head and as soon as the hat brushed my head it screamed “GRYFFINDOR!” I breathed a sigh of relief and walked to the Gryffindor table. As I passed the Slytherin table I overheard Scorpius talking to Al.

“What’s so great about Gryffindor anyway?” Scorpius said snidely, “My whole family has been in Slytherin and we’ve turned out fine."

Before Al could respond I quickly walked up to the table.

“You’re just jealous Scorpius,” I said, “Gryffindor is obviously the best out of all the houses. And just FYI, I wouldn’t say your family turned out that great. They’re all Death Eaters after all.”

As I walked away from the table I heard Scorpius hiss toward me: “And your mother was a Mudblood. What do you have to be proud of?”

Al opened his mouth to respond, but I walked away from the table reeling with anger. Al was being annoying and all chummy with Scorpius---typical Slytherin. I sighed and put on a smile for James and the rest of the family, who were cheering for me. I smiled, but on the inside I was seriously pissed. I vowed that from that day forward I would despise Scorpius Malfoy. And I kept true to my promise. We barely spoke.

Until sixth year.

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so I would really appreciate a review with feedback :D